Recently

The other day I was brainstorming with some senior kids about what-is-personality and words they could think of to describe personality. Someone suggested the word 'extravagent' and I accepted it and wrote it on the board. Then, one girl raised her hand and very serioiusly said, "I heard that in the United States you can say 'bling. bling'." No one else in the class understood her so the room was silent. Except for me, who exploded in laughter at this proper French girl saying 'Bling bling' and having no idea the context or anything. She said it as two separate, distinct words, and it was hilarious. I had to control myself and try to explain the context in which one would use that phrase.

Last Thursday I attended a group of older French and British people who get together each month to practice speaking English. They were having their annual Christmas party and the other assistant Kerri and I decided to go. There were about 50 people there and we were the youngest by about 25 years. We sat in cushioned chairs and sang a selection of American and British Christmas carols accompanied by a gifted keyboardist. The director of the evening was a warm goofy Irishman who changed his hat depended on the song we were singing. He wore a santa hat, an antler hat, and a sparkly hat. He was jolly. After singing for 40 minutes or so we mingled and ate mini minced pies and sipped Sherry. Those older than me became quickly warmed by the Sherry, and some of the men started sharing stories of visits to Los Vegas and wet t-shirt shows. Awkward. It was nice though to share some Christmas spirit(s) with English speaking people, even if they slightly misjudged personal space boundries.

I bought a little Christmas tree for my apartment at the market on Saturday! It is lovely. I am taking pictures of my apartment that I rearranged and of Aix because they have turned on all of the Christmas lights in the city and it is beautiful. I love it.

My last day of school before the break is the 23rd. Two weeks. For Christmas I will be in Annecy with Tessa Lynch and Kerri. We will celebrate together and eat lots of good food. Then I am going to Spain with Lisa Cantrell, a friend from Furman who is meeting me in Spain. I'm excited! Good luck these last days of school!